What happens when pro-choice women are frustrated with the pro-choice movement?

Guest post by Amie Newman, associate editor for RH Reality Check.

Women's abortion experiences. There are statistics and there are stories. Numbers are solid, final and finite. One million women will have an abortion in the United States this year; thirty-five percent of women in this country will have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. For every number in black and white, however, there is a story in grey. There is always the woman, of course. And there is always an abortion. Sometimes there is a fetus, sometimes it is called a baby, sometimes "my baby." Maybe there is a partner. There is sadness for some, guilt for others. Relief overwhelms many. There is always, however, a story. A growing and vocal movement of women creating public forums to communicate their personal abortion experiences and stories is encouraging; from films like The Abortion Diaries to Speak Out: I Had An Abortion and web sites like Imnotsorry.net.

Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades, the new abortion zine published by Exhale, is one such project that aims to transform the societal dialogue around abortion by creating a (bilingual) space for women to share their stories (full disclosure: I was on the original Board of Directors for the zine).

As Aspen Baker, executive director of Exhale and editor of Our Truths puts it:

In the pages of Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades, women are the truthtellers. They are their own witnesses, their own advocates. It is their voices that will bust myths, challenge stereotypes, and confront judgment. They will help pave a new road toward a social climate free from abortion stigma and overflowing with our truths.

Emily Louise Barcklow, a former abortion clinic staffer and current graduate student living in Mexico, originally started Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades, the first and only bilingual -- Spanish and English -- abortion zine published in the United States, in response to her feelings of disconnect with the larger pro-choice movement. Specifically, Barcklow felt frustrated with the pro-choice movement's ...